Friday, 10 August 2007

Flowers in my garden

These are the flowers in my garden, which is just an ordinary surburban garden, but which give me great pleasure.

First pic, my camera does not do justice to these flowers, which to the eye up close look like the finest lace. It makes me think about where the lace makers got their inspiration from, perhaps from nature. I cannot believe that somebody once sat down and started making intricate patterns in white thread because they had just thought of it. They make me think of Elizabethan ruffs and that painting by Vermeer.

Second pic, pink poppy. Makes me think of cornfields, and peasant skirts and wild abandon in the hay. I went for a country walk recently and a lot of the farmers round here have seemed to have abandoned chemical fertilisers and pesticides and the fields were full of poppies, which is certainly something I have rarely seen. May be it is in response to a demand for organic food. Natural flower-arranging with the contrast between the dry corn stalks and the vivid, soft, floaty shapes of the poppies.

The ferns are primeval and make me think of dinosaurs. I am sorry, but maybe I have been reading too many of my son's dinosaur books.

Without the flowers, in bud, the fourth plant looked a bit futuristic, like something you would find in a Star Trek garden. I quite liked it as it was but my husband said there was more to come. I still think it looks a bit planetary, because of its spherical shape, like a purple moon.

Firth pic, nasturtiums, cheap and cheerful. Bright orange colour which makes me think of cheap and cheerful things like plastic washing up bowls or cheap and cheerful packaging. They use that colour for a reason.

Lovely pictures. You English people really do take gardening seriously, don't you? The BBC does make the best garden programs. I like the lacy flowers and agree with your theory. Do you mean the movie The Girl with the Pearl Earring? You can see some wonderful lace in some of the old masters. Frans Hals for instance, or Rubens.

My internet research has led me to believe that what I was actually thinking of was 'The Lacemaker' by Veneer, not 'The Girl with the Pearl Earring'. An easy mistake to make, as both the pictures have girls in. I have duly amended the blog. Thanks, Sweet Irene. At least you know your Old Masters.